Spring-shackle unit



sept. 21, 1926. 1,600,495

' H. G. TRENCH SPRING SHACKLE UNIT Filed Nov. 28, f 1925 4.FTEs-J..l

Strom/11u,

Patented Sept. 21, 1926.

HARRY G. TRENGH, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

` SPRINGTSHACKLE UNIT. A

Application mea November 2s, 192s.'v seria; no.' eve/,7369. 1

This invention' relates to shackling units and more particularly lto a meansfor quietthe spring shackling of motor vehicles.-V has been realized for somel time that it ing It v is highly desirabley to improve the spring shackling of automotive vehicles by inter posing springs between the -shackle blots and nuts and the shackle plates, and one early construction for doing thisv is shown in my Patent No. Y1,042,173, issued October 22, 1912. When such a construction is provided, the connections between the vehicle springs and'frameswill'be such as to permit relative movement of the parts and at the same time precludev rattling or slapping of the parts under normal operation, thus ensuring quiet operation of the spring shackling of motor vehicles. r

Improvements have been made on the construction shown in my patent referred to, such improvements comprising a special bolt of4 greater lengththan the customary bolt so that a helical spring and housing therefor may come between the shackle plate and the nut. It isgnow the practice of'some automotive vehiclemanufacturers to install such devices on all passenger cars which .they manufacture. This practice, however, is relatively recent and whenthese devices are installed in the automotive vehicleit istof course easy to supply special -shackle bolts longer than those primarily used for 've-v hicles without these devices. There are, however, a great number of automotive vehicles in operation which do not have any such quieting devices to improve the operation ofthe .shackle unit, and which have a standard, relatively short shackle" bolt so that these earlier devices just referred to are not adapted to be applied to vehicles which do not have .special bolts.

It is an object of the present invention to provide 'a construction which may be easily applied to automotive lvehicles which have been manufactured and provided witlrthe usual form of ,shackle bolts which do Anot extend beyond the -shackle plates sufficiently to receive the earlier quieting devices above mentioned. i i

A further object of my invention Ais to provide a construction ywhich will be durable and relatively cheap, and which is easily assembled andapplied to shackle constructions of automotive vehicles having such relatively short shackle bolts. My devices may be put upV conveniently in sets Yfor any. given motorV vehicle using standard, and: therefore relatively short, bolts, and may be distributed advantageously insuch4 setsf by` distributors and dealers in automotive specialties and supplies, including garages.

These and other objects will be apparent from the following descriptionand annexed drawing-s, in'which-` vvFigure 1 is .a rear elevation, partly in section, of La springshackle construction enrbo'dying myy invention. `Y

Fig. Qis an end elevation.

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation partlyv in section l of a modifiedform lof construction.

Fig. 4 is a view partly 1n section-OfeliaV v special form of nut usedin therconstructionv shown in Fig. 3. 7

Fig. 5 i-s a'secti with thepnut'. v,

vIn the drawings, 1 indicates a motor ,ve-f hicle frame of any suitable constructionand 2 indicates a tubular portion or eye of the end of the spring .Thetubular portion of the frame member 1] may besuitably bushed with a bushingl 4, if' desired. A pair, of shackle plates 5,6,.provided with upper and, lower holes. 7,v 8, Yare lpl'acedfwithjfthe.

a 4washer fto used..-

lholes in alignment with the tubular portion of the frame and spring, respectively. -g'lfhe bolts` 9 each have e a head 1Q and screwV threaded portions ,11. Oneo-fthese bolts ,is extended through the holes 7 of the shackle plates andv theA tubular end of the frame, and the other bolt is Vextended through the holes v8 of the shackle plates andthe tubular end 2 of the spring. r The free end of eachl bolt eXtendsbeyond the vouter @wall of the shackle plate for a sufiicient distance to receive an ordinary nut and washer (not shown), such as is ,now commonly used-on automotive vehicles.` Y f Y My device preferably comprises a unit-.to replace the Vvordinary .nut and Vwasher fon shackle construction. Theunit consists ofv a casing or housing 12,'. a4 spring` 13 and a special nut 14. .The nut 14 comprises an inter?. nally threaded extensionV sleeve 15, a polyoonal head 16 and a4 shoulder orcollar 1 The casing or housingmay be formedf in various ways but preferably comprises av cupshaped member having onevend open and the other end apertured to engage' the threaded only a ltubular member preferably with an end portionto be engaged by one end of the spring so that it will b'e tightly held in place.' The shoulder 17 of the nut is preterably of a size to engage and form a seat-for the other end of the. spring 13,'so thatupon rotation of the nut in a direction to move toward the shackle plate the spring `may. be compressed. Ihen a casing is used and its open end extends' toward 'the shackleV plate, the shoulder 17 of the nut is preferably offa; sifze vto vsubstantially closethe open end of the.v casing; The casing and collar car#V ried by the nut render the shackle unit when 1 secured to the shackle bolt of afvehicle sub-4 stantially dust proojtiand lubricant tight,

omitted if desiredf The coiled spring 13 is adapted to surround the sleeve 15and'the bolt 9, and to be which 'is preferable, but can oi' course be l clampedV between the shackle plate' and the shouldered head or" thenut oriother means actuated by the nut tofcompress the spring. This spring is preferablyfrelatively heavy and ycapable of withstanding `considerable t loads, depending uponthe thrusts to which it is subjected.l For example, in' practice I may use a spring'capable of withstanding loads considerably upwards of 225 pounds to the square inch. A'By screwing up the nuts 14, the shackle plates will be "drawn into snug engagement with the walls of the frame andV spring, land 'the springs 13 'will'be 'put under compression so as to Iinsure that all parts of the mechanism'will, under all ordinary-operating conditions, beheld up in.

properV operating relationship to each other,

and in .'su'chafmanner that there will be no rattlingoffsuch parts or noise 'due' to slap-- 'Png'tfsethrfefthe parts in the motorvea hl'cle. Y

bolt 9 may be provided with a usual lubricating system asvby means of the hole 20 formed in thebolt head communicating with ducts 21. A suitable grease cup or filling member22 of any well known character may be secured to the bolt head in communication with the hole 20.

In the modification shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 15 the nut 14', instead of having a col lar or shoulder 17V maderintegral therewith and of such a diameter that it forms a seat for the spring or substantially close one Yend of the casing 12, is provided with a relatively small shoulder or collar 17 and I provide inconjunction therewith a washer'23 or the like 4'tod-'orm such a seat or closure. AThe nut.l4f is provided with a sleeve 15",similarto the nut 14', to engage the threaded'end of the bolt 9 as above vdescribed.'Y Y@ f v UIt, will also be seen that my devices will be formed Vapplicablejfor use in connection Ywith mostftypes of shaped shackles, ,merely'by cutting through the crossmember ofthe Hf forth, are presented for purposes of explanation and illustration and'that various modifications of said apparatus and procedure can be made without departing from my invention as defined in theappended claims. ,'hat I claim is: is

1; A shackle unit for attachment tospring shackles comprising a nut having a-'polygonal head portion and an internally threaded sleeve portion adapted to engage'the threaded portion of a bo'lt and space'the head portion of vthe nutl from the threaded end portion of the bolt,` a -spring,tdsurround said sleeve, and means carried by the head `p`Or tion of the nut tol compress thei spring'fwhen the nut is rotated onthe threaded end 'ot the bolt in a direction to move toward the 2. A shackle unit for shackles lcomprising a polygonal head and an sleeve to engage the vthreaded Iend 'of a shackle bolt, a spring tosurround'said sleeve, a casing to enclose' the spring, and means carried by said member to 'compress' the spring upon rotation of said memberin a direction `to move toward said bolt. f

3. A shackle unit for attachment to spring attachment to spring 'member' having* a sha'ckles'comprising a nut having a head and a threaded'sleevd' a helical, spring to surround said sleeve, an annular member carried bysaid nut torl compressing'the spring, and a substantially cylindrical casing'to'suik round said spring, one endr of said casing being adapted to form a seat for one end 'et' the spring. y

4. A shackle unit for attachment to spring shackles comprising i sleeve, a casing to surroundsaid spring, and means actuated bythe nut to close one end of the casing and compress the spring upon tightening the nut. y

5. A shacklingl Aunit for attachment to spring shackles comprising a nut having a head and an internally threaded sleeved eX- tension to engage the threaded end'of a shackle bolt, a spring to ysurround said sleeve, a casing to enclose the spring and having one end open, said 'casing'ha'ving an aperture in its other end to engage the shackle bolt, and means carried'by the nut to close theopen end of said casing.`

6. A shackling unit for attachment to spring shackles comprising a nut having 'ahead Vand an internally threaded.sleeved eXtensionvto' internally threaded a nutfhaving a V head and asleeve, a'spring to surround said ieu engage the shackle bolt, a spring to surround said sleeve, an open end casing to enclose the spring, said casing having one end adapted to form a seat for one end oi' the spring, a shoulder carried by said nut7 and a member adapted to close said casing and to form a seat for the other end oi the spring.

7. The combination with a spring shackle mechanism comprising a shackle plate dis-` posed adjacent a vehicle iframe and s ring, and a shackle bolt having a threade end portion extending through said shackle plate a sufficient distance to receive a nut, of a shackle unit for such mechanism including a nut having a shouldered head vportion and 'an internally threaded sleeve portion adapted to engage the threaded portion of said bolt and space the shouldered head portion from the threaded end portion of said bolt,

zo and a spring disposed around said sleeve and between the shackle plate and said shouldered head portion. y

8. The combination With a spring shackle mechanism comprising ashackle plate dis` posed adjacentv a vehicle frame andspring, and a shackle bolt having a threaded end portion extending through said shackle plate a su'iicient distance to receive a nut, of a shackle unit for such mechanism including a nut having a head portion and an internally threaded sleeve portion adapted to engage the threaded portion of said bolt andv space the head portion from the threaded end portion. of said bolt, a spring disposed around said'sleeve and lbetvv'een the shackle plate and'said head portion, and means to enclose said spring.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aix my signature.

i HARRY G. TRENCH. 

